Weather this weekend may be more like Veterans Day

Marilyn Dawber, from Scituate Mass., talks with Donald Swan of Pembroke, Mass., as she walks her dog, Scout, Thursday afternoon at the Hooksett rest area on Interstate 93. Despite the weather forecast for the Memorial Day weekend, Dawber was headed to Lake Winona in New Hampton, while Swan was headed for a fishing trip in Vermont. (Thomas Roy/Union Leader)

It won't be a washout or a whiteout, but the weather this Memorial Day weekend promises to bring more rain and even the possibility of snow — yes, snow — for vacationers heading to the North Country.

The threat of snow in the higher elevations is the last thing Doris Bedell wants to hear this time of year.

"Hopefully, it won't," said Bedell, who owns the Spruce Cone Cabins and Campground in Pittsburg with her husband, Gary, and expects a busy holiday weekend.

Forecasters say New Hampshire will remain stuck in the same wet weather pattern that's made for a dismal past week.

"It's going to be dreary most of the time," said Mike Kistner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.

Things should brighten up by Monday, but before then, Kistner said a low pressure system similar to a late spring nor'easter is expected to develop just south of Cape Cod and move into the Gulf of Maine this weekend.

The storm will bring unseasonably cool air and more rain to much of the state through the weekend. However, in far northern areas, especially in Coos County, the air will be cold enough for some snow overnight Saturday into Sunday.

While a coating of the white stuff would be the norm, the higher mountain peaks could see several inches of snow.

Coincidentally, Kistner said the latest snowfall on record for New Hampshire is May 26, 1967.

The weather pattern this weekend will be similar to the set up that delivered snow in 1967, Kistner said.

Highs today will only reach into the mid-40s in southern areas to upper 30s to the north.

Sunday's highs will range from the mid-50s south to upper 40s north, Kistner said.

Temperatures are expected to rebound into the 60s by Monday and head back into the 70s on Tuesday, he said.

In terms of rain, Kistner said parts of the state could see 1 to 1.5 inches before the wet weather moves out later on Sunday.

The rain isn't expected to cause any significant flooding problems, but some small streams could flood if the system stalls out, Kistner said.

The weather should improve in time for Memorial Day parades and observances on Monday.

"Monday actually looks like the best day of the weekend. The flow will switch to the west with a nice dry flow," Kistner said.

More Headlines

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry asked an oil industry advisory council on Monday to help find ways for oil drillers to exploit technology that captures carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants,...